| Abstract: | A two-component model of the eyeball that represents the cornea as a momentless, linearly elastic deformable surface and the scleral region, as an elastic element that responds to intraocular pressure changes by volume changes, has been used to analyze the effect of spatial inhomogeneity in the distribution of effective corneal stiffness on the mechanical properties of the eye. The effective stiffness of the cornea characterized both the elastic properties and the thickness of the cornea within the framework of the model. Various axisymmetric forms of the effective stiffness distribution characterized by monotonic increase along the arc between a point on the corneal surface and the apex of the cornea were studied. The considered distributions simulated both natural inhomogeneity and apical region weakening due to surgical interventions. Numerical simulation yielded the dependences of deformation parameters on intraocular pressure changes. These parameters characterized the deformation properties of both the cornea (apex displacement) and the eyeball as a whole (intraocular volume change). In the case of moderate inhomogeneity, the dependences were only slightly different from those for a homogeneous cornea with an effective stiffness equal to the mean value for the corresponding inhomogeneous distribution. A noticeable increase in the integral response of the cornea and the eyeball as a whole to changes in pressure was observed if the effective stiffness amplitude was very high (two or more times higher than the mean value). The effect of inhomogeneity on the results of tonometric measurements with a Maklakoff tonometer (flat stamp) was studied. The tonometric difference, that is, the difference between the tonometric pressure (in the loaded eye) and the true pressure (before loading), mainly depended on the average stiffness of the cornea in this case as well, with a substantial increase observed at very high stiffness amplitudes only. Apical weakening of the cornea led to an increase (although not very pronounced) of the tonometric difference. |
